At present there are five active documented criminal street gangs operating in the Gainesville-Hall County area. This number has drastically reduced since 1997. Most of these are hybrid gangs which have few connections with larger main stream gangs.

These gangs are territorial and primarily commit crimes such as entering autos, thefts, criminal damage to property, aggravated assaults, and various drug related crimes. Crimes such as these are committed by gang members to elevate their status within the gang as well as to elevate the status of the gang itself.

The Gang Task Force is federally funded, operating with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). The vast resources of the FBI help the GTF suppress the ability of criminal street gangs to effectively operate in Hall County. With the assistance of the FBI, cases of specific organized criminal activity have the potential of being prosecuted on the Federal level.

The Gang Task Force (GTF) focuses on vigorous enforcement of gang laws and increased community education about criminal street gangs.  The GTF educates officers, teachers, counselors and citizens on gang identifiers/trends to help eliminate gang problems. A community based graffiti removal program and graffiti hot line are also operated by the GTF.

The Gang Unit can be reached @ 770-297-2291